Issue 81 - April 2007

01 April 2007

GREETINGS!

Welcome to the April edition of the Shanville Monthly! It's a bit early this month, because I have to leave to embark on my American tour. I won't be as accessible as normal while I'm on the road, but I'll try to keep in touch as often as possible. I'll post blog entries about the tour on my BLOG and on my MYSPACE PAGE, so watch out for them if you want to know everything that I get up to!!! I'll highlight the highs, the lows, the crazy bits, the boring bits ... basically, anything that happens, you'll be able to read about it there! My tours of the States are always tiring, but I enjoy them -- I usually get to meet loads of enthusiastic fans, I hopefully make some new converts, I see a huge number of libraries, schools and bookstores, and ... well ... maybe I'm a geek, but I find that kind of exciting!!!! So, as hard as things get with all the travel, talking, signing and trying to sleep in strange beds, you won't find me complaning!!! But before I catch my place west, there's the small matter of the April Shanville Monthly to see to first ...

AWARDS UPDATE

"Demon Thief", alas, failed to win either the Irish Children's Book Of The Year, or the Doncaster Children's Book awards for which it was shortlisted. I suspect I was well behind "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" in the Irish award (it's the sort of book adult critics of children's books love -- and with justification), but my "agent on the inside" in Doncaster tells me it was close-run thing in that one -- I came within a whisker of taking top spot!!! But in the end, a lot of the younger voters went for a humourous book instead -- curse their laughter-seeking hides!!!!!!! :-)

But, wait, I might add to my (somewhat meagre) awards collection yet!!! "Lord Loss" has been nominated for the Leeds Children's Book Award (for the best paperback published in 2006 for 9-13 year olds). There are six books in total on the shortlist, which you can find by clicking here: LEEDS SHORTLIST If anyone reading this lives in Leeds and is going to take part in the judging, I trust you'll see sense and cast your vote for poor, awards-neglected Darren Shan -- am I doomed to forever be the bridesmaid, not the bride?!?!?!?

U.S.A. -- NEW BOOKS!!!

Although "Bec" (book 4 of "The Demonata") isn't officially going on sale in America until May, it will be available in most bookshops from the start of April (and will definitely be available for sale at all my events), so look out for it!!! If you prefer to buy online, you can buy it from Amazon or Barnes & Noble by clicking on either of the following links. Please ignore the publication dates on both sites -- I'm sure the book will become available to ship early in April.

"Bec" at Amazon: CLICK HERE

"Bec" at B&N: CLICK HERE

The paperback edition of "Lord of the Shadows" (book 11 of the "Cirque Du Freak" series) is also going on sale in April. Again, you can buy it in your local bookshop, or online by clicking on one of the following links:

"Lord Of The Shadows" at Amazon: CLICK HERE

"Lord Of The Shadows" at B&N: CLICK HERE

NEW COVERS!!

I've added new Japanese covers to the Vampires section of my site, of the paperback edition of Book 8 and the second manga collection. I've also added the final Dutch trilogy collection from the "Saga". You can find them here: JAPAN & DUTCH COVERS

I've also added the fourth "Belgariad" cover to my site, which features a quote from me. Click here: BELGARIAD 4

Finally, I've added the Norwegian cover of "Demon Thief", and I think it might well be the creepiest cover of any of my books that I've yet seen -- it's seriously eerie!!!! You can check it out (if you're brave enough!) by clicking here: NORWAY COVER

NEW "DEMONATA" REVIEWS

I've added some new reviews for all the "Demonata" books (except "Lord Loss") to my web site. The reviews are still trickling in, and almost all of them are extremely positive - hurrah!!! You can find them by clicking here: DEMONATA REVIEWS

NEW "LORD OF THE SHADOWS" REVIEWS

Since "Lord of the Shadows" is being released in American this month (see above), I decided to have a look in case there were any new reviews of it that I could add to my site -- and I found several!! You can read them all by clicking here: LORD OF THE SHADOWS REVIEWS

"BLOOD BEAST" NOTES
I've added my second set of "Blood Beast" notes to my site, talking about its different teen angle and hinting at the role Bill-E will have to play in the books. More notes will follow over the next few months, in the lead-up to its release in the UK. You can find the notes in Secret Shanville (you'll have to become a Shanster if you haven't already) by clicking here: BLOOD BEAST NOTES

APRIL U.S.A. TOUR

I am coming to America on tour in April 2007, from the 2nd to the 20th. You can check out my schedule below! In-school events are for specified schools only. PUBLIC events are open to everyone. I will always try (time allowing) to sign as many books as fans bring along, so yes, you CAN bring your entire Darren Shan collection!! If you live near one of the stores when I'm coming, but can't make it to my event, you can always leave your books at the store in advance, or contact the store beforehand and ask them to get me to dedicate a book to you!

School presentation/signing at - Barnes and Noble, 33 East 17th Street, NYC 10003.

APRIL IRISH EVENT

On Saturday, April 28th, I will be doing a PUBLIC event at the Cuirt Festival in Galway. You can click on the following link for their web site, which provides more information and allows you to book tickets: CUIRT SITE

JUNE IRELAND/U.K. TOUR

I'm going to be doing another big tour of Ireland and the U.K. in June, to promote the release of Blood Beast, book 5 of The Demonata. You can check out the provisional schedule below -- please note, it will probably be updated quite a lot between now and June. I strongly advise that you check back for the full, revised, confirmed itinerary closer to June if you want to attend any of these events.

If you are a teacher or librarian interested in bringing a group of children to any of my events, please write to me using the CONTACT form, letting me know the date and venue that you are interested in. I will forward your requests to those setting up the events.

Tuesday, 5th

AM

Schools event at the Belltable Theatre in Limerick.
Tuesday 5th 4.30pm PUBLIC signing at Easons, Limerick.

Wednesday 6th

AM

School event at Linenhall, Castlebar.
Wednesday 6th 4.00pm

PUBLIC signing at Easons, 33 shop st, Galway.

Thursday 7th

AM

School events in Drogheda.
Thursday 7th PM PUBLIC signing at Waterstones, Drogheda.

Schools event at the Lyceum in Sheffield. (It holds 1000 people!!)
Thursday 21st 4.30pm PUBLIC event in Waterstones at Doncaster.

Friday 22

10am

School event at Hull Collegiate, Tranby croft, Anlaby.

JULY FAR EAST TOUR

I will be visiting Japan on tour from July 5th to 12th. I will then be doing events in Taiwan from July 13th to 17th. And I will be at the Hong Kong Book Fair from July 18th to 20th. There will be more info about these tours later -- so keep checking back!! If you are living in any of the above countries and would like to contact the publishers (Shogakukan in Japan or Crown in Hong Kong/Taiwan) directly, for more information or to try and arrange an event, please see the LINKS page on my web site, which has details for all of them. (My Hong Kong visit is being arranged by my Taiwanese publishers.)

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER U.K. TOUR

I haven't yet decided whether or not I'll be doing a major tour of the UK/Ireland in October, when Book 6 of The Demonata is released. Looking at all the dates above, I'll be surprised if I survive to do any touring ever again!!! But, what the hell, I'm a tough little half-vampire, so maybe I'll be up for even more, to make it a truly memorably gruelling year on the road!! Either way, I will definitely be doing the Edinburgh Book Festival in August (my eighth year in a row!!). And I will be doing a couple of events in the UK in late September too. You can find out the details below. It will probably be close to June before I decide whether or not to tour in October -- keep checking back for updates.

August

PUBLIC event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Friday 28th September

a.m.

Schools event at Bristol Old Vic.

Saturday 29th September

time t.b.c.

PUBLIC event at the Bath Festival of Children’s Literature.

IT'S A WRAP

And that's it for April! I'm going to spend most of the month touring in America, but I'll try to add any big news details to the NEWS forum on my message board while I'm away. I can guarantee at least one major news story (for fans in the UK and Ireland) in the May issue of the Shanville Monthly!!! On that mysterious and tantalising note, I'll bid you all adieu for a while, and see you back here at the start of May. Until then, all the bloody best, Darren Shan x x x